MATT Neal extended his domination of the British Touring Car Championship with three podium finishes in the latest round of the competition at Oulton Park on Sunday.

The Droitwich driver extended his lead over Team Halfords teammate Dan Eaves to tighten his grip on the championship.

Neal showed that his excellent form going into the championship was no flash in the pan at the Cheshire track, finishing runner-up twice and winning round 11.

He said: "It has been the most fantastic start to the season I have ever had.

"I'm over the moon about the way things are going.

"But I'm not counting my chickens just yet, I am just focusing on the next race, I know the championship isn't won."

Neal went into rounds ten, 11 and 12 in sparkling form after winning two of the three previous rounds in his Honda Integra.

And he maintained that form in qualifying, sealing second on the starting grid for round ten.

Jason Plato, who set a fast time of 29.958 seconds, pipped him to first place.

Plato went onto win the first race from pole-position, despite late pressure from Neal.

However, Neal was not about to be denied his fifth victory of the season.

He held off championship challenger Yvan Muller in round 11 to win it.

However, with six laps to go Neal also had to contend with a burst of rain that drenched the bone-dry track Oulton and turned it treacherous.

Neal said: "It had been really dry all weekend until the rain caught us out.

"It was hard in the last few laps because I had the wrong type of tyres on the car, but everyone else also had the same problem."

The wet weather did not deter Neal in round 12 as he finished second behind Tom Chilton.

Chilton took the lead off Rob Collard after the safety car disrupted the race.

Success at Oulton Park confirmed Neal as one of the BTCC's greatest drivers in the competition's history.

His 19 wins places Neal in the championship's top ten best drivers of all time.

Neal will be sharing a track with BAR Honda's Formula One ace Jenson Button at the Goodwood Festival of Speed event next weekend.

Neal will be testing his Integra on Goodwood's famous hill.

He said: "It's a nice event to be taking part in.

"It's my first time doing it, but I know's it's very popular."

Other Honda drivers, including Button, are also expected to take part.

Neal though is also hoping to concentrate on the next rounds of the championship at the Croft over July 16 and 17.

He said: "So far the Honda has been exceptional and hopefully it will keep on doing a great job.

"But there's a long way to go in the championship.

"Yvan Muller is still quite close behind and he's going to be pushing hard to win the title."